Bargains: Prepare for the invasion of the cheap and cheerful

China is leading the nations that plan to flood the West with low-cost cars, report Jeremy Taylor and Amrit Dhillon

British car buyers may think it’s a joke, but for manufacturers the prospect of a £1,900 plastic car from India is no laughing matter. It points to a new profit-squeezing era of low-cost vehicles.

The Indian car boasts a PVC body and will be a “comfortable family car” according to Tata, the giant industrial conglomerate that is building it. Production is due to start in two years and Tata has not ruled out the prospect of exporting it to Britain. The company has already made inroads here selling the Safari 4x4 and Indica (which was marketed as the MG Rover CityRover).

The plastic car is the brainchild of Ratan Tata, the company’s chairman, who has made it his mission to fulfil his government’s plea to car makers to produce cheap vehicles for the masses.

The price is less than the cost of optional air-conditioning and leather seats in upmarket saloons.